


and we were in screaming color

by takesmeunder



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 08:12:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3031109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takesmeunder/pseuds/takesmeunder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The concept is simple: when you touch your soulmate's hand for the first time, your world goes from grey to color. Which is fine, but Niall's not even sure he has a soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and we were in screaming color

Niall supposes it would be nice to see the world in bright, shining color, but so far all he’s seen since the day he was born is different shades of grey. He can’t complain, doesn’t really know what’s so spectacular about something he’s never experienced.

Ever since his roommate Liam met Zayn, he talks about the trees being green, the sky being blue and how red roses are. Niall indulges him, knows how amazing it is when you finally meet your soulmate. It’s the way life is, or the way life is meant to be.

When you meet your soulmate, when your hands touch for the first time, everything that you’ve thought was grey suddenly bursts into color. Liam had said it was nearly blinding, bumping into Zayn on a busy street and their hands brushing as they passed, both of them whirling around as the world revealed its true self.

Niall’s turning 25 and he’s more or less convinced himself that he doesn’t have a soulmate. Most people meet theirs before they turn 21. Niall’s birthday is on Wednesday and the world is just as grey as it’s always been.

“You’ll meet them,” Liam says through the phone for the hundredth time. Looking at Liam you’d never really guess he was such a romantic. Niall had always known in some sense but it wasn’t until Zayn came into the picture that Liam really started putting himself out there. “Everyone has a soulmate. Someone out there was made just for you. You’ll find them.”

Niall grumbles, pulling his coat a little higher around his neck. “If I say I believe you, will that be enough to get you off the phone? It’s bloody freezin’, think I’m gonna lose my hand in a minute.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Liam says, and even through the phone Niall can tell he’s rolling his eyes. “Just don’t give up, yeah mate?”

“Got it,” Niall sighs as he hangs up, knowing Liam will be upset that he rung off without saying goodbye. Liam is someone best taken in small doses, which proves difficult sometimes since they’re roommates.

Niall glances at his phone as he walks, checking the time to make sure he’s not late for work. He groans when he realizes he doesn’t have time to stop for a nice breakfast, so he takes a quick jog across the street to grab a muffin from the coffee shop located there.

He doesn’t realize how cold he is until the blast of warm air from the shop hits his face and makes him take a sharp breath. The place is pretty crowded, university students milling about as they talk in groups, a few of them sat at tables with their laptops open as they type furiously at the keys. Niall remembers the panic of trying to finish an essay the day before it was due, it’s not something he’s keen to do again.

The line moves quickly, Niall still trying to warm his hands up when it’s his turn at the cash.

“Hi, what can I get for you?”

Niall’s gaze moves from the muffins to the person asking, and his mouth drops open a little without his consent. The boy staring back at him has a very nice smile, hair tied behind his head in a neat little bun. Niall sticks his tongue out to wet his lips, trying to forget about how dry the rest of his mouth is.

“Hey, yeah. Uh, could I get one of those blueberry muffins please?” Niall asks, hand digging into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. “Could I also get a large tea, two milk, two sugar?”

Niall glances down at the boy’s nametag. Harry.

“Course,” Harry says, grinning again as he rings up Niall’s order. “That’ll be three twenty-five, please.”

“Okay,” Niall goes to hand over the change, the tips of his fingers brushing against Harry’s palm as he does.

Then the world bursts into color.

* * *

 

Niall’s stock still, fingers still clutching the change as Harry’s eyes blink repeatedly. They’re green, Niall realizes, his eyes are green and his hair is brown and he’s got the prettiest pink lips Niall’s ever seen.

“Are things a lot brighter or is it just me?” Harry asks, eyes sparkling. He's trying for a joke but Niall knows he's just as shocked and unsure as he is.

Niall laughs, exhaling a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Reckon I might need some sunglasses at this rate.”

There’s an impatient huff from behind him, and Niall realizes that he’s holding up the line. “Shit, uh,” he stutters, unsure of the protocol for meeting your soulmate. “When are you done?”

Harry lifts his apron from around his neck and tugs off his hairnet. “Right now. I just met my soulmate and you think I’m going to stay behind the register? Ha!”

Niall runs a hand through his hair, watches as Harry grabs the blonde girl who was working in the back and whispers something in her ear. She jumps up and down excitedly, gives him a hug and practically pushes him towards the front.

“Pez is gonna cover me,” Harry says while he grabs his coat from the rack. “Did you uh, have somewhere to be?”

Niall definitely has somewhere to be. “No, no I don’t.” Louis might kill him for not coming in, but then again he might not. Niall distinctly remembers Louis not coming into work for nearly a week after he met Eleanor. Maybe he’ll understand.

“My place isn’t too far, if you wanted to go there?” Harry asks, pulling a wool hat onto his head. “S’like, less than a block?”

Niall zips up his coat. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

It doesn’t seem as cold now that he’s got Harry walking beside him. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that snow is white, the hat on Harry’s head is red and the zipper of Niall’s jacket is silver. Niall can’t believe he’s gone 24 years without knowing what color is. It almost seems cruel in a way, and Niall wonders what color his childhood room is.

“This is me,” Harry says, pulling out his keys.

Niall looks up at the building and whistles. “My soulmate’s loaded. This is off to a great start.”

Harry looks mock insulted as he lets Niall inside. “Heeeey, I work hard for my money.”

“Really?” Niall raises his eyebrows, waits for Harry before he starts walking down the hallway.

“Okay, so my mum and dad help out a little,” Harry admits. “But I’m trying to get my law degree, yeah? So they help me out while I’m in school, but I still have to work part-time. That’s why I’m at the coffee shop.”

Niall nods as they come to a stop outside of an apartment. The door is blue. The numbers ‘713’ on the door are gold. “Been out of school for a couple years now, me.”

Harry’s head swivels to look at Niall, fingers trying to get the key in the lock. “Wait a minute, how old are you?”

“24,” Niall says. “And you?”

“I’m 23. Took a few years off to like, find myself I guess?” Harry finally gets the door open, pushes it in so Niall can step inside.

The apartment is pretty big, at least triple the size of Niall’s and he has to share it with Liam. The couch is an ugly yellow color, and the walls are white. “Nice place,” he says, toeing off his shoes. “Is this where I find out you’re actually a serial killer?”

“Well, up until twenty minutes ago I was color blind so I imagine I wouldn’t have been so good at cleaning up the blood. Walls look pretty white to me,” Harry says, laughing under his breath.

Niall takes a seat on the sofa. “This is strange, right? Like, it’s not just me. This is weird.”

Harry exhales, taking a seat on the chair across from him. “It’s a little weird, yes. Like, our whole lives kind of lead up to this moment, and now that it’s here I’m just like… okay, now what?”

“We talk?” Niall suggests, biting at one of his fingernails. “Sorry,” he says, tucking his hands underneath his knees. “Nervous habit. Got a bit of anxiety.”

Harry nods. “S’okay. I grind my teeth,” he reveals. “Terrible. Have a night guard and everything.”

Niall gets a chuckle out of that. “You’re quite fit.”

“I know,” Harry says, smiling with his teeth. “I’m just messin’ about. So are you. I’m actually quite pleased you’re my soulmate.”

“So glad I could fulfil the requirements,” Niall says. It’s shockingly easy talking to Harry, he realizes. They’ve barely known each other thirty minutes and they’re talking like they’ve been friends for years. Comfort and conversation isn’t something that comes to Niall right away, it usually takes him some time before he’s chatting away.

Harry squints as he glances around the room. “It’s so much brighter,” he whispers, eyes trailing over the art he has on the walls. “It’s strange to think that there are people who are still seeing the world in grey.”

“I’m the last of me mates,” Niall says, wringing his hands together. “Was honestly beginning to think I just… didn’t have a soulmate.”

Harry scoffs. “Everyone has a soulmate,” he says. “S’not possible to not have one.”

“Liam will be pleased,” Niall realizes. “He was going on about it before I went into the shop. Hopeless romantic, that one. He’s my roommate, by the way.”

“Most of my mates have found theirs as well, years ago actually. Thought maybe I was in the wrong country or something. Maybe I would have found you sooner if I didn’t go abroad,” Harry says wistfully.

“S’alright, yeah? We found each other,” Niall says, reaching across to get a hand on top of Harry’s. “That’s the main thing.”

Harry flips his hand over, intertwines their fingers so he can rub a thumb back and forth over Niall’s skin. “Still can’t believe you were just buying a coffee. You could have been anyone.”

Niall’s heart feels like it’s going to burst out of his chest, the steady thump picking up as Harry shuffles over to sit beside him on the couch. Harry cups his cheek, the cool metal of his rings feeling nice against the blush forming on his skin. “I was running late for work,” he says, feeling breathless even though he’s not. “Just needed something quick.”

“If you hadn’t stopped...” Harry lets the sentence hang, uses his fingers to get Niall to look at him. “Your eyes are the prettiest blue I’ve ever seen.”

“Mine are the only blue eyes you’ve ever seen,” Niall’s breath catches, can’t help it when Harry’s staring at him so intensely. All he can see is green, green, green.

“Shh, you’re ruining the mood,” Harry scolds. “Would it be okay if I kissed you, Niall?”

Niall swallows. “Don’t even know your last name, and you’re asking for a snog. What kind of guy do you think I am?”

“Styles,” Harry whispers, his thumb pressing into Niall’s bottom lip. “Yours?”

“Horan,” Niall breathes out. “Niall James Horan.”

Harry smiles. “Harry Edward Styles.”

“Reckon you could kiss me now, if you wanted,” Niall says.

Harry’s green eyes drop down to Niall’s lips, and Niall would be lying if he said his own gaze didn’t do the same thing. “Think I might do.”

“Oh, for Christ sakes,” Niall gets a hand around the back of Harry’s neck and pulls him in. It’s electric almost, the way heat surges up the back of Niall’s spine, the way his skin feels on fire as Harry’s palms skate over his body.

Harry licks into his mouth in a way that Niall would usually find inappropriate for any other first meeting, but it’s got Niall’s toes curling into his socks and god help him, he nearly climbs into Harry’s lap right there.

Niall pulls his mouth away from Harry’s prying tongue, a disgruntled noise falling from Harry’s lips. “I know, I know,” he says, agreeing whole-heartedly. “Is it always this easy? Like, with soulmates? Or is it just us?”

“I’d like to imagine it’s just us,” Harry says, tongue flicking out against his lips. “S’just like, feels right with you.”

Niall nods in agreement, slapping Harry’s hand when it tries to creep up his thigh. “We should talk. Get to know each other,” he says.

Harry nods, but his hand is back on Niall’s thigh. “This counts as getting to know each other, doesn’t it?”

Niall finds he’s already addicted to the way Harry’s mouth tastes, and he especially like how much redder his lips get after he’s been kissed. “Yeah, I suppose it does.” 


End file.
